. The birds of Washington; a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . Taken in Kninicr Sationat rark From (I rhvl grafh. Copyright, 1908. by !•. L. Dituson,THE CAT, UT. HAIMM mnM EAST rAaAMtH IIIOCE. Ptarmigans are UMially inisus|»icious and conlidiiig to a degree unprece-dented in the case of any other .American hird. This is partly owing to theseclu<led character of their liannis, so that they have not learne<l the fear ofmen: ami partly to the instinctive reliance which they place in their protectivecoloration. A silling hen wil
. The birds of Washington; a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . Taken in Kninicr Sationat rark From (I rhvl grafh. Copyright, 1908. by !•. L. Dituson,THE CAT, UT. HAIMM mnM EAST rAaAMtH IIIOCE. Ptarmigans are UMially inisus|»icious and conlidiiig to a degree unprece-dented in the case of any other .American hird. This is partly owing to theseclu<led character of their liannis, so that they have not learne<l the fear ofmen: ami partly to the instinctive reliance which they place in their protectivecoloration. A silling hen will imi leave her nest until she is all Init trampledon. and once ilisturhed. she will even allow herself to Ik- lifted from the gromidwithout resistance. The cock is usually more wary. Once, while encamjn*! in THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 593. the Cascade Pass, I was working lazily over a sharp ridge, half covered withsnow, when I heard a sulxliied croaking, or crooning, like a Clark Nutcrackernote done small. Glancing ahead I saw a cock Ptarmigan standing lireast-deep in heather and regarding me with a watchful eye. As I approaclied heran out upon thesnow-bank, cacklingapprehensively, ])uthe circled about s(.)as to return to theedge of the timberedisland which he hadjust cpiitted. Herea moment later I putup the female. Shestepped out from theheather upon thesnow with a dis-turbed cluck, butproved to be nuichmore approachablethan the male. I fol-lowed her about pa-tiently as she skirtedthe edge of the island, now going out upon the snow if pressed too closely,now returning to the heather if I retreated. In this way I secured three goodphotographs at six feet. The cock submitted to one snap at twenty-five feet, but he was too nervous tostand long under fire ; and heretreated across the snow bylittle runs until he hadreached
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Keywords: ., bookauthordaws, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
